The new TUF Gaming A14 has a super powerful configuration with AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 and RTX 4060 GPU in a body that weighs only 1.46kg and is less than 2cm thick. This gaming laptop rivals top models from the past 1-2 years, especially CPU power. But can it handle high-end games smoothly? Find out in this Asus TUF Gaming A14 2024 review.
Weighing under 1.5 kg, the TUF Gaming A14 (2024) stands out with its powerful AMD Ryzen 9 HX 370 processor and NVIDIA RTX 4060 100W GPU. Its impressive cooling system ensures sustained high performance, making it a standout choice for gamers.
Asus TUF Gaming A14 2024 Review
Slim and Lightweight, but Not High-End
Priced under $2000, the Asus TUF Gaming A14 (2024) falls short in appearance. It has metal on the A and D sides, but the C side and screen border are plastic. Its design is simple, compact, thin, and lightweight for its specs, but it isn’t high-end.
The TUF A14 lags behind the G14’s design from previous years. It feels just okay to hold, lacking the premium feel expected in a laptop under $2000.
Positioned below the ROG Zephyrus G14, the TUF Gaming A14 has a more minimalistic design and is understandably less impressive than the G14. However, I find its design quite appealing, with a minimalist A-side finished in metal. This style suits both office and creative professionals.
Weighing less than 1.5 kg and being quite slim, the gaming laptop feels light and comfortable to hold. The included 200W adapter is quite heavy, bringing the total weight of the laptop and adapter to around 2 kg. However, this is still lighter than many gaming laptops, which often exceed 2 kg for the device alone.
Limited Ports but Sufficient Connectivity
As a thin and light 14-inch laptop, the TUF A14 has limited ports. It includes 2 USB-A ports, 2 USB-C ports (one USB 4), an HDMI port, a headphone jack, a power port, and a microSD card reader. An SD card slot would have been more suitable for camera users and specialized devices.
For wireless connectivity, the TUF A14 uses a MediaTek network card that supports WiFi 6E. After a few days of use, I found that the MediaTek network card and Windows 11 no longer have the phenomenon of continuous connection loss like before. With a WiFi 6E router at home, you can enjoy stable, low-latency gaming.
Screen Sufficient for Most Needs
The Asus TUF Gaming A14’s screen may not be exceptional for its price point under $2000, but it’s adequate for most uses. It offers a 2560 x 1600 resolution (16:10 ratio), 100% sRGB coverage, and a 165Hz refresh rate, making it a solid choice for a variety of tasks. The screen brightness is adequate for practical use, making it suitable for working in bright environments.
The plus point is that the screen has a smooth 165Hz refresh rate and fully supports G-Sync, MUX Switch + NVIDIA Advanced Optimus. Overall, if you play games, there is nothing to complain about, but if you use it for photo editing, design, and content creation, the color is just enough, not too excellent.
Touchpad Performs Well, Keyboard Falls Short
The touchpad on the Asus TUF Gaming A14 2024 is quite large. Although not as large as the G14’s, it is still adequate for work, office tasks, and web browsing. I can work all day with this touchpad without any problems.
However, the keyboard is uncomfortable, with small keys that lead to frequent typing errors. The key surface and feedback are subpar, and typing feels somewhat heavy. While it might be sufficient for those who aren’t very particular, it could disappoint users expecting more from a laptop priced over $2000.
Asus TUF Gaming A14 2024 specifications
- Operating System: Windows 11 Home
- Processor: AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 2.0GHz (36MB Cache, up to 5.1GHz, 12 cores, 24 Threads); AMD XDNA NPU up to 50TOPS
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU (233 AI TOPs), 2225Mhz at 100W(2175MHz Boost Clock+50MHz O.C.,75W+25W Dynamic Boost), 8GB GDDR6
- Neural Processor: AMD XDNA NPU up to 50TOPS
- Display: 14-inch, 2.5K (2560 x 1600, WQXGA) 16:10 aspect ratio, IPS-level, Anti-glare display, sRGB:100.00%, Refresh Rate:165Hz, G-Sync, MUX Switch + NVIDIA Advanced Optimus
- Memory: 8GB x2 LPDDR5X 7500 on board, Max Capacity:16GB 16GB x2 LPDDR5X 7500 on board, Max Capacity:32GB
- Storage: 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD / 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD
- Ports: 1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack, 1x HDMI 2.1 FRL, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A (data speed up to 10Gbps), 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C with support for DisplayPort (data speed up to 10Gbps), 1x Type-C USB 4 with support for DisplayPort / power delivery (data speed up to 40Gbps), 1x card reader (microSD) (UHS-II)
- Camera: 1080P FHD IR Camera for Windows Hello
- Audio: Dolby Atmos, AI noise-canceling technology, Hi-Res certification (for headphones), Support Microsoft Cortana near field/far field, Built-in array microphone, 2x speaker system
- Communication: Wi-Fi 6E(802.11ax) (Triple band) 2×2 + Bluetooth 5.3 Wireless Card
- Battery: 73WHrs, 4S1P, 4-cell Li-ion
- Power Supply: Rectangle Conn, 200W AC Adapter, Output: 20V DC, 10A, 200W, Input: 100-240V AC, 50/60Hz universal; TYPE-C, 100W AC Adapter, Output: 20V DC, 5A, 100W, Input: 100~240V AC 50/60Hz universal
- Dimensions (W x D x H): 31.1 x 22.7 x 1.69 ~ 1.99 cm
- Weight: 1.46 Kg / 3.22 lbs
Asus TUF Gaming A14 2024 review test
The TUF Gaming A14 (2024) is impressive with its 100W GPU and high-performance CPU packed into a slim and lightweight design. Can the cooling system maintain the laptop’s performance? Find out in this Asus TUF Gaming A14 2024 review.
Impressive Performance and Efficient Cooling
The AMD Ryzen 9 HX 370 processor impressed us with its outstanding single-core and multi-core performance, all while consuming just 80W of power. To briefly describe the power of the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, you can imagine it as follows: Stronger single-core performance and multi-core performance almost equal to the Intel Core i7-14700HX 20 cores 28 threads running at ~160W, which is twice as much as the AMD processor.
The Core i7-14700HX is typically found in high-end gaming laptops. Only laptops with robust cooling systems, like those in the Legion 5 Pro or higher, can effectively manage this high-temperature CPU.
At 80W, its multi-core performance in Cinebench 2024 is significantly better than the Snapdragon X Elite.
With lower power levels, the Ryzen 9 HX 370 needed only 45W to score over 20,000 in Cinebench R23, far surpassing the Core Ultra 9 185H running at 115W.
At 30W, comparable to CPUs in thin and light office laptops, AMD’s Zen 5 CPU achieves nearly 16,500 points, similar to the Ryzen 9 8945HS at 80W. For comparison, the Zen 4 8840HS with a 30W TDP only reaches about 11,500 points. It’s worth noting that both CPU generations are manufactured using the 4nm process.
We also tested the performance with Geekbench 6, and the results were impressive, especially in single-core performance.
Outstanding Cooling Performance
I was continually surprised when running the 10-minute Cinebench 2024 test to check cooling and stability. The final results showed identical scores.
It demonstrates that the TUF Gaming A14 (2024) can sustain high CPU performance continuously for extended periods.
Gaming Performance and GPU Power
We will continue our Asus TUF Gaming A14 2024 review by testing the GPU performance and actual gaming capabilities. It features an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 100W GPU (75W plus 25W Dynamic Boost). Although this is lower than the 140W found in many gaming laptops, it’s still impressive. This is especially true for a laptop weighing less than 1.5 kg.
First up are the familiar benchmark tests:
Additionally, I tested the performance of the integrated GPU on the chip. The iGPU 890M is quite powerful, as confirmed by several other testers.
It’s important to note that games consume a large amount of RAM. For the best experience, opt for the 32GB RAM version, as this laptop cannot be upgraded later.
With the PUBG game, the gaming laptop completely balances Ultra settings, Full HD resolution, and stable fps output above 120.
Using only the Radeon 890M integrated graphics, you can still play PUBG at low settings with 60–80 fps, which is sufficient for a good experience. MSI Afterburner shows the TGP of the integrated graphics reaching up to 60W.
Benchmark with Shadow of the Tomb Raider at high graphics settings, Full HD, average fps reaches ~130fps.
Here are the benchmark results with the integrated GPU, showing impressive performance. Later this year, AMD will launch the Strix Halo with 2.5 times the GPU cores of the Radeon 890M, promising exceptional performance.
While gaming, the GPU can consume up to 100W, averaging around 70-80W, with temperatures consistently between 70-80 degrees. Notably, the C surface temperature can get quite high. It’s advisable not to play heavy games continuously for extended periods on this laptop.
Stable Performance with Heavy Tasks
In real-world tasks like using Lightroom, Photoshop, and Premiere, both the CPU and GPU rarely need to run at high power. This is also true for other computationally intensive software. Even when rendering videos on Premiere, the GPU consumes a maximum of about 60W when plugged in. It uses 45W when on battery power. During that time, the laptop remained remarkably cool and stable.
Notably, even without external power, performance remains strong. In this Asus TUF Gaming A14 2024 review, the CPU still achieves over 20,000 points in Cinebench R23, and the RTX 4060 consumes 45W, not dropping below 60W under heavy load. However, in gaming scenarios, the GPU usually consumes 70-80W and can spike to 90-100W. When unplugged, performance drops significantly, and the battery drains quickly.
High Storage Speed
The Asus TUF Gaming A14 (2024) comes with a 1TB PCIe Gen4 SSD, offering high-speed performance. While it may not reach the peak speeds of some Gen4 drives, it still performs well for an included SSD.
Battery Life and Power Adapter
Asus TUF Gaming A14 packs with a 200W adapter, allowing both CPU + GPU to run at maximum power. In addition, if you want to be more compact when traveling, you can also buy 100W GaN chargers, preferably Asus chargers.
I tested it with a 90W adapter, and the device reported slow charging. However, during light office work, the battery percentage increased quite quickly. This is understandable, as the CPU uses only 3-5W, and with the screen and other components combined, power usage doesn’t exceed 10W.
As for the battery, the 73Wh battery capacity of the device can actually meet 8 hours of actual work with many mixed tasks. I used TUF Gaming A14 to work online, occasionally using Photoshop to edit photos, and each hour only used about 11 – 12% battery.
Watching Full HD YouTube videos at 50% screen brightness consumes about 8-9% of the battery per hour, so you can watch movies all night on the TUF Gaming A14 without needing to recharge. While this result is not as strong as the Snapdragon X Elite, a Windows x86 laptop with the AMD Ryzen 9 HX 370 is much better than a Windows ARM laptop, which often struggles with software compatibility, gaming performance, and weak graphics.
Final line
The performance of the Asus TUF Gaming A14 (2024) is impressive, especially given its size and weight. However, its price of over $1,500 may be a significant barrier for many users. Despite its advantages, the TUF brand is often associated with mid-range, budget-friendly gaming laptops, and the design may not be striking enough to justify the cost for some buyers.
If you understand your needs and are looking for a compact, portable laptop that prioritizes work over gaming, the TUF A14 is worth considering. While the ROG Zephyrus G14 offers more advanced features and a more impressive design, it currently uses the Ryzen 8040 series, which has significantly lower CPU performance.
In the genuine gaming laptop market, I have not seen any laptop model that is as compact, powerful and has good heat dissipation as the TUF Gaming A14, so the product will still have its customer group.
The Asus TUF Gaming A14 FA401WV version in this review has a listed price of $1,853.99 at the Newegg.com online store.
